Three to be honoured by the Queen at Oxford Maundy service (From Oxford Mail)

Three to be honoured by the Queen at Oxford Maundy service

9:30am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News By Katriona Ormiston, Reporter. Call me on (01865) 425426

ROYAL fans are practising their curtsies ahead of meeting the Queen. Community stalwarts will be presented with specially minted coins by Her Majesty in Oxford’s Christ Church Cathedral. The Queen, who yesterday cancelled her royal engagements this week following a recent bout of illness, is due to visit Oxford on Maundy Thursday, March 28.

Among the chosen 174 will be Clivia Philbin, 81, who has lived at Townsend House care home in Bayswater Road, Barton, Oxford, since 2008. Mrs Philbin was nominated by the Oxford Diocese for her work visiting ill and housebound people. The retired midwife and nurse who worked at the old Slade Hospital and Churchill Hospital in Headington, said: “I am a bit overwhelmed. “I got a letter from Buckingham Palace and was just shocked. “It is a great honour for all the people throughout my life who have helped me especially since I came to this country. “I came to England from Trinidad when I was 24. “The impression I had of Oxford was that it was all intellectuals. I was scared to come but Oxford is my home now.” The number of recipients – 87 men and 87 women – reflects the age of the Queen. It is the first time she has visited Christ Church Cathedral to hand out Maundy money. The tradition itself is 700 years old.

Banbury great-great-grandmother Doreen Fowler, 82, will join Mrs Philbin at the Royal Maundy Service. The retired nurse from Bretch Hill is being recognised for her community work for St Mary’s Church in Horse Fair. Ms Fowler said: “I am absolutely overjoyed to be meeting the Queen. I have never met her before.” Ms Fowler, who has three children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, became a great-great-grandmother to Vincent Fowler on February 22. She has helped out at the church since she was a child, including showing people around and knitting dolls for children to act out the parables. The 174 people have been nominated by clergy to take part in the service and each receive two purses containing the coins. Another pensioner looking forward to meeting the Queen is Ethel Lester, 77, from West Challow, near Wantage. The grandmother was nominated by the village’s St Laurence Church, where she is a churchwarden. The former cashier at Woolworths said: “I have been feeling a bit nervous and I have been practising my curtsy.” The Dean of Christ Church, the Very Rev Christopher Lewis, said: “It is great news that Her Majesty is coming to Oxford’s cathedral for this profound service when devoted service is recognised.”

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